1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a balling drum assembly including a wear resistant insert. More particularly, the present invention relates to a wear resistant insert for a scraping assembly of the balling drum assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A balling drum assembly for a pelletizing plant typically includes a drum member of the type in which an agglomerative material is admitted at one end of the drum member and during rotation of the drum member forms nodules or balls which are discharged at the other end of the drum member. Within the drum member the agglomerative material forms a layer which adheres to the inside of the drum member and on which the nodules as well as the admitted agglomerative material are rolling. The layer of agglomerative material tends to increase in thickness and eventually to drop and it is therefore important to maintain the thickness of the layer of agglomerative material at a suitable constant value to render possible formation of nodules in the desired manner.
The rotary balling drum assembly includes a scraping assembly for maintaining the constant layer of agglomerative material in the nodulizing drum member. The scrapers typically consist of, for example, steel and are mounted on an attachment extending from a stationary member which is adjustable relative to the axis of rotation of the drum member. The primary purpose of the adjustability is to render possible adaptation of the distance of the scrapers from the inside of the drum member and consequently control of the thickness of the layer of agglomerative material. In order to render possible exchange of the scrapers, they may be detachably connected to the attachment or attachments; such as by means of welding or screw and nut joints.
It will be appreciated that the agglomerative material is typically abrasive and acts to wear the scraping assembly eventually requiring replacement of the scraping assembly.
One aspect of the present invention is to provide a scraping assembly that is more resistant to wear. Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a wear resistant insert for a scraping assembly of a balling drum assembly.
Briefly, according to the present invention there is provided a balling drum assembly. The balling drum assembly includes an inclined rotary drum member having an inlet at its one end for receiving agglomerative material and at its other end an outlet for balls formed from the agglomerative material. At least one scraper blade assembly is operatively attached to the drum member parallel to the axis of rotation of the drum member. Each scraper blade assembly includes a blade support member and separate blade segments secured eccentrically to the blade support member with respect to the axis of rotation of the drum member. Each blade segment includes an inner end and a back end, the inner end of each blade segment includes a notch formed therein to accept a similarly shaped wear resistant insert having a top face, bottom face, rear face, forward face and side faces. The top face of the wear resistant insert is offset from the bottom face to form a seat having a substantially flat planar seating surface and a curved rear wall and three planar forward edges formed by the forward face. In a preferred embodiment, a forwardly facing portion of the top face projects over the seat above the curved rear wall to form a housing for receiving the wear resistant member.